Eylau (8AM to Noon)

Napoleon, although outnumbered, was determined to hold his position knowing that Ney was coming up on the left and Davout on the right. His plan was a double envelopment of the Russian Army. Bennigsen’s four Corps and cavalry were deployed …

1807-02-08

206

Napoleon, although outnumbered, was determined to hold his position knowing that Ney was coming up on the left and Davout on the right. His plan was a double envelopment of the Russian Army. Bennigsen’s four Corps and cavalry were deployed on the heights in front of Eylau, but could not throw up field works because the ground was frozen solid. Around 8:00 AM the Russian guns, positioned somewhat forward of the main line, opened fire and the French artillery replied with greater effect. Tutchkov countered a French probe on the Russian left, and Soult’s IV Corps was hard pressed to hold its ground. At the same time, the Russian cavalry attacked the advanced guard of Davout’s III Corps. To take the pressure off his flanks and allow Davout’s corps to advance against the Russian flank, Napoleon ordered his center forward. Augereau’s VII Corps advanced into a blinding snowstorm, lost their bearings, and veered left – directly into the line of fire of the massed 70 gun Russian grand battery. A massacre ensued as thousands of French soldiers were cut down within minutes. The survivors retreated to Eylau. The French center had ceased to exist. Bennigsen seized the opportunity to counterattack. Twenty thousand Russians advanced irresistibly across the valley, driving the French back to the town.

Bagrationovsk, Russia

The Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7 and 8 February 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Bennigsen near the town of Preussisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians received timely reinforcements from a Prussian division of von L'Estocq. After 1945 the town was renamed Bagrationovsk as a part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The engagement was fought during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars.

Wikipedia: Battle of Eylau

French

Russians

Fourth Coalition